


his favorite tradition

by orphan_account



Series: rayllum prompts [6]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, i'm literally so tired omg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21965314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Christmas has always been a big celebration in the castle, and with Rayla there too, it's an even bigger one.
Relationships: Callum & Ezran & King Harrow (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: rayllum prompts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1408975
Comments: 6
Kudos: 135





	his favorite tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [baitstan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baitstan/gifts).



> *i speed wrote this at 11 pm on christmas bc i suddenly had an idea
> 
> *anyways merry christmas
> 
> *its two am i'm literally so tired and about to break my ipad and then sob LMAO

Christmas has always been a big celebration in the castle.

Callum can remember huge feasts, stocked with plates of jelly tarts Ezran would raid, exotic fruit platters from the other kingdoms he would eye, and delicious meals prepared by Katolis’ finest chefs. King Harrow, Callum, and Ezran would sit around the table, along with advisors like Opeli and the Katolis court, and enjoy the food. Soren, Claudia, and Viren would be there too, the kids probably sat next to the other children, sharing enthusiasm about the holiday.

Desert was always Ezran’s favorite part of the meal; it probably still is now. Callum was always full by then. With Ezran’s unlimited stomach, he could likely eat half the food and be fine.

When he was really little, younger than six but older than four, his mother would be there too. He remembers watching her and King Harrow “accidentally” walk under mistletoe and cringing at their kiss like little kids do. He remembers her bright smile as the meals were placed in front of her, hearty laugh as his step-dad made jokes or Callum did something cute.

But Sarai had one tradition Callum always loved.

She would do her hair up with something ridiculous. Before they were in the castle, it was little bells or bows; not much wouldn’t burn at the border. But when they moved, she could expand a little more. One year it was snowmen and candy cane clips all over her head. One year it was christmas lights woven into braids.

And that was it.

Christmas after her her death had been gloomier, to say the least. On the first one, even Ezran’s promise of presents hadn’t been enough to get him out of his room. They ended up opening presents and eating in Callum’s bedroom, just him, Ezran, and King Harrow.

After that, it had gotten a little easier. They managed to coax Callum out of his room long enough for him to see some of the celebration, but he stayed either in his room or the corner most of the day, growing extra shy for the usually energetic child.

The third christmas was more like how it used to be, just missing one person. And as he got older, he moved on more and became an avid participant in the holiday.

King Harrow ended up taking on Sarai’s tradition, weaving lights and clips and decorations into his hair. One year, he had real ordaments dangle from his locks. One had fallen out and smashed against the floor. Callum has never laughed harder than he did when that happened.

The feast was always amazing, somehow topping itself every year. How the chefs do it, he will never know. The food always melts in his mouth, savory and warm and like a fireplace in his stomach. Ezran would stuff himself silly with jelly tarts, Callum would steal all the fruit, and King Harrow would try to eat a modest amount but end up sneaking way too much junk to be healthy.

But that wasn’t even the best part of the day.

They would start off with presents, but first, Ezran jumping on Callum’s bed at five am in the morning to wake him. Once Callum had shoved Ezran off of him and said profuse apologies for it, the two would climb into the King’s bed and jump on it to wake him up. Obviously, as they got older, this trend evolved from hopping on the bed to shaking the person in it awake.

Presents always had both of them excited, no matter the fact that Callum and Ezran were awake at ungodly hours of the morning. There would be stacks of presents from King Harrow, presents from the siblings to each other, little boxes from council members, advisors, and other castle workers. Santa’s presents were in the front, even after both Callum and Ezran learned of the truth. They kept the Christmas spirit alive anyways. How they all fit under the tiny tree they kept in the castle, he would never know, and that’s not even including things in their stockings.

Callum would let Ezran go first, naturally, and the whole floor of the throne room would be covered in discarded wrapping paper afterwards. They had cardboard boxes for each of their presents, sometimes multiple boxes, and King Harrow would watch with a smile as they tore through every present. The siblings were sure to thank everyone. Ezran would make cards and Callum would draw little doodles inside them, and they would hand them out to the staff.

King Harrow tried to tell them they didn’t have to watch him open presents, but they stayed anyways, just as excited for him as they were for themselves. Sarai taught them early on that the greatest gift of Christmas is giving, not getting, and so Ezran and Callum would watch King Harrow open his own gifts, helping him when he was “having trouble” with the wrapping paper. When Bait joined the family, he was given a couple of presents for himself as well, and Ezran would help direct his feet to rip the paper.

Soren and Claudia had their own presents too, but they celebrated by themselves most of the day, and the families would merge for the feast. Sometimes, Soren and Claudia left to visit their mother, so it was just Callum and Ezran. Soren and Claudia were usually awake a little later and opened presents while the others were eating breakfast, though Callum and Ezran snuck in to watch them anyways.

Breakfast would be light, their main meal being saved for lunch. Usually it consisted of whatever chocolate they got and cookies of some sort. King Harrow and Opeli would try to warn them that they would feel sick later, but they didn’t care.

They would go out into the city and see the lights and decorations. They put an enormous tree in the town center, and there was a stand where children could decorate an ornament and hang it on the tree. Young Callum made one that was a drawing of his family in a frame, and it was apparently so good, his mother and step-dad had kept it for their own mini tree in the castle. Ezran would fall over in snow, and Callum taught him how to make a snowman.

Sometimes Soren and Claudia joined them, and they would have snowball fights, teaming up against one another. Sometimes it was family vs family, other times Callum and Claudia vs Soren and Ezran. At one point, the three children teamed up against Soren. They usually found a way to drag King Harrow and Viren into it as well. The adults were considered ‘too powerful,’ so every team had to have one of them.

Dinner was made up of leftovers from lunch, and Ezran, Callum, and King Harrow would huddle together by the fireplace and eat by its warmth. Then it was time for bed, and the whole tradition would start over the next year.

Sometimes Christmas was different, like the two times they spent it at the Banther Lodge, sledding and making snow angels and having family bonding time. But most of the time, they stayed in Katolis, wishing to celebrate with their people.

Now, even though Callum is fifteen and probably beginning to be considered “too old” for Christmas, even though they’re missing another person now, even though he’s a mage and Ezran is king and they only have Soren out of the two children, he’s still bouncing on his toes at the thought of going home for Christmas.

It’s even better because Rayla is coming with him.

Elves have a similar holiday called Yule. He doesn’t know much about it, but apparently it’s a similar concept, lasting for twelve days instead of one. A twelve day Christmas sounds both nice and expensive.

He brushed Rayla up on some Christmas knowledge, more than happy to include her in the holiday festivities. While he’s looking forward to going home and seeing Ezran for the first time since his birthday, he’s most excited for showing Rayla all their Christmas traditions and bringing her into their celebration.

He’s excited to see if Ezran still strung lights up around the castle halls, if they still put up the huge Christmas tree in the town square, if kids could still make ordaments to hang on it. He wonders if the feast will be better than last year’s, if they’ll still have color-coded wrapping paper for each person (he was always blue, Ezran being red, King Harrow being gold, Soren being orange, Claudia being purple, Viren being silver, and Sarai being yellow.), and if snowflakes show up in Rayla’s hair.

It’s his first Christmas without King Harrow, and the thought makes his throat tight and his eyes misty. It’s been months, but so much has been going on, he’s almost forgotten that when he returns home, King Harrow won’t be there. Sometimes he dreams of him, Ezran, and his step-dad at the Banther Lodge, snow falling around them, catching snowflakes on their tongues and then curling by a fireplace for warmth. When he woke up after that dream, he started sobbing into his bedsheets. But Rayla held his hand and kissed away his tears.

Speaking of Rayla, she’s in front of him, her back pressed against his front. He’s clinging her tight, not only because he wants to and they enjoy the closeness, but because they are currently flying on a dragon and if he falls off, well, that wouldn’t be good.

He rambles about Katolis’ colorful streets and snowy roads and the long tables they break out for the feast, and eventually Rayla turns her head slightly to whisper in his ear that she can’t hear him over the rush of wind. He blushes, slightly embarrassed, but she offers a smile and boops her horn against his head, saying something about catching snippets of his sentences.

Their flight is smooth, and they arrive in Katolis Christmas Eve night. They figured it would be better to leave the day before the holiday, and the flight took a little longer than expected, so the sky is dark and Callum’s eyelids droop. They thank the dragon, and she flies off into the starry sky. Rayla tugs him along to find Soren, who they each hug and greet warmly, and he leads them through the streets to the castle.

Being back is enough to wake Callum up. While he lives and breathes in Xadia, he will always consider Katolis his home, and walking through the streets with snow crunching under their feet brings him a strange amount of joy. Rayla holding his hand makes his breath warmer, despite the chill of the winter air, and he swings their arms, happily skipping along. Rayla shakes her head at him fondly.

It’s too late to bother setting up separate rooms (not that they would stay in them anyways) and so Rayla follows Callum into his room. Everything is as he left it, except there are colorful, mini lights strung across the borders of the ceiling, making the room glow faint greens and reds and blues.

Rayla goes into Ezran’s old room to change, and Callum slips into a christmas sweatshirt and plaid pants, and he gets comfortable in his bed, awaiting Rayla.

His heart was not prepared to see her in one of his sweatshirts.

He’s actually going to have a heart attack. The sleeves are too long, leaving her with sweater paws. The whole thing is too big on her, but he doesn’t think she minds, and he certainly doesn’t either. He’s suddenly hit by a wave of love and appreciation and he wants to snuggle by a fireplace with marshmallows and hot cocoa and Rayla curled up against his side and press kisses to her cheek and—

“Callum?” Rayla asks, waving one of her pawed hands in front of his face. While it should snap him to attention, it only makes her cuter, which makes his heart function worse. Somehow, she looks so innocent and cuddly, and he’s reminded of how her hands are so tiny in comparison to his own. “Are you alright?”

He can feel his face heat up, and he’s sure that the red on his face is not from the christmas lights. “I’m okay. Better than okay. I’m great! Are you great? You look great.”

Rayl smirks knowingly, flapping the paws of the sweatshirt, and Callum groans in cuteness overload in his head. “I’m only wearing a sweatshirt that’s too big for me and pants.”

“You still look beautiful to me.”

He can see her cheeks and ears go pink, and she uses the overhanging sleeve to whip his shoulder lightly. “Shut up.”

He smiles, a bit cocky, glad he can make her as flustered as she makes him. God, if she’s only wearing his sweatshirt and making his heart explode, what about when she does anything else?

He doesn’t have time to dwell on it because Rayla is sliding under the covers next to him. She plays into the cute image, tucking her head under his chin, horns around his cheeks, and curling her hands between them. Callum somehow grows even warmer. Just when he thinks he’s comfortable enough around her not to have heart attacks whenever she does something adorable, she goes and does _this_.

“Hello? You in there?”

Rayla’s voice snaps him out of whatever panicked trance he was in, and he finally has the sense to wrap his arms around her. She melts more into him, and he sighs into her hair, contentment in his heart. “I love you, Rayla.”

“I love you more.”

“Impossible.”

She shakes her head as much as she can with his face between her horns, and with her warmth and the stack of blankets piled on top of them, Callum drifts off to sleep, dreaming of him, Ezran, Rayla, and Soren lying in the snow.

When he wakes up, he and Rayla are tangled together, her breath warm on his face, puffing little breaths of air onto his chin. Her mouth is slightly agape, a small smile on her lips. Her arms worked their way around his back, and it presses them together, tangled up like christmas lights.

He kisses her nose, light and feathery, and her face crinkles. Slowly, she blinks awake, eyelashes fluttering and violet eyes meeting his.

Her voice is tired and husky. “Good morning.”

He grins, eyes bright. “Good morning. Merry Christmas, Rayla.”

Her arms stretch, pushing him away slightly so she can wake up. “Merry Christmas, Callum.”

She ends up slumping against him, and he welcomes her with open arms, holding her gently against him. She kisses his jaw, mumbling something about waking her up “too early, the sun’s only just up.” To which he replies by kissing her eyebrow.

Rayla yawns, stretching her hands between them, and his eye catches the sweater paws and his heart dances once again. Softly, he reaches for one of her hands and presses it against his cheek, letting her warmth seep into his face. Rayla smiles, sleepy and cute, and he scoots forward to kiss her lips.

She tastes like moonberries, like she always does, and she wraps her arms around his neck to keep his lips locked with hers. She leans backwards, taking Callum with her, and he props up onto his elbows to keep himself steady. He trails his lips to her cheeks, up her face towards her temple, down to the tip of her nose, and Rayla impatiently yanks him by his scarf back down to her lips.

Her arm holds his elbow, her other hand still clenching his scarf. He lets his rest a little above her hip, pressing her closer to him. Their bodies and mouths flushed together, she starts to run her fingers through his hair, undoing the knots sleep tied. Her hand with his scarf starts unwinding it from around his neck, the cool air hitting his now exposed skin.

Eventually, Rayla and Callum have to breathe, and he gazes down at her pink cheeks and glazed eyes and parted mouth, and his voice surprisingly deeper and husky, he asks, “Can I kiss you again?”

She has to take an extra second to get her bearings, her voice soft and barely above a whisper. “Of course.”

They dive back in, his hand going to cup her cheek, her own hands roaming down his back and back up again, touching his arms and his neck. Speaking of which, he breaks off their lips to trail down Rayla’s jawline, pressing kisses to the bone there. Then, with a quiet whisper for permission and even quieter confirmation, he lets his lips trail around her neck. She smells like pine and stars and moonlight, her skin cold under his mouth.

Her collarbone is soon decorated in invisible kisses, Rayla making little noises of appreciation. But when he moves to kiss her neck again, she flips them over with a surprising amount of force and begins working her way down Callum’s neck.

The sudden change makes him make a startled and pleased noise, the feeling of Rayla’s lips on his throat making a fireplace in his stomach. It sends tingles down his spine, his heart clenching in his chest, sounds of pleasure escaping his lips. Her hands brush through his hair, her legs between his, her shoulders pressed against his chest, and he thinks his heart is about to burst.

He loves when she has bouts of confidence, loves when she can make his dissolve into a puddle of love. That’s her right now, her kisses making him feel better than he’s ever felt, any worries he could’ve had in the back of his mind kissed away.

Rayla pulls back to look at her handiwork, both of them panting from lack of oxygen. Callum must be a mess, his eyes half-lidded, his face red and blushing, his hair mused and his neck covered with her love. She smiles down at him, her own ears turning pink at her handiwork.

“Merry Christmas,” Rayla says, leaning down to press her forehead against his, booping their noses together.

“Me... Merry Chris...mas,” Callum somehow manages, despite his internal panic at his amazing, wonderful, adorable girlfriend.

Her breath is hot on his face, his heart beating a mile a minute, and she leans down to kiss him again.

So naturally, Ezran and Bait break down Callum’s door at that exact moment.

Rayla practically flies off of his, tumbling back against the bed, and Callum grabs the covers to hide underneath. If he can’t see Ezran, then Ezran can’t see him. He’d like to stay there his entire life, his face heating up more than it did while their make-out session was happening.

“Good morning guys! Merry Christmas!” Ezran exclaims, either acting like nothing happened or genuinely not having seen anything.

He thinks Rayla somehow ended up on the floor, because she sounds pained when she says, “Hi, Ezran.”

There’s a grumble from the door, and Rayla replies, “And hi, Bait.”

Callum peeks his eyes out from under the blanket. Ezran blinks at him, innocence in his eyes, but he can’t tell whether it’s fake or not. “I was going to come wake you guys up, but I guess you don’t need me to.” He bounces on his feet. “C’mon! Let’s go open presents!”

Ezran runs off, presumably to get to the tree, and Callum sits up in the bed. Rayla is indeed on the floor, standing up and rubbing her arm that she must’ve hit on the end of his bed. The sweatshirt- his sweatshirt, makes her look adorable, and all his feelings from before come rushing back.

“Put something else on.”

“What?” Rayla asks, confused. “I thought you liked me in the sweatshirt.”

Callum blushes. “I do. Too much. If you go around wearing that, I’ll be too focused on you rather than Christmas.”

It’s Rayla’s turn to turn red, and she faces away from him. “Fine. Go on, I’ll catch up.”

He finds their family’s mini tree in the throne room like it always it, presents scattered around underneath it. There’s different colors for everyone, a new addition of blue in the mix. Soren, Ezran, and a lot of other faces he recognizes are already there.

He takes a seat next to Ezran. “Where’s Rayla?”

“Changing. She’ll be here in a minute.”

Ezran raises an eyebrow and tilts his head, confused. “Why’s she need to change? What she had on was fine.”

Callum chooses not to answer.

Rayla joins them soon enough, decked out in her usual gear with the addition of Callum’s scarf, and she takes a seat next to him. Ezran claps his hands excitedly. “Okay, now that everyone is here, can we start?”

Opeli kindly reminds him, “Your majesty, you are the king. You don’t need to ask for permission.”

“Oh. Right. Let’s start!”

Presents go by quickly. There’s only stocking for Callum and Ezran, so they save those for last and tackle everyone else’s presents first. A lot of his presents have to do with art and books, so he’s eager to see what Rayla got for him. He hopes she’ll like what he got for her.

Or rather, for them.

Rayla hands him a long, thin box, and the first thing he sees when he opens it is a bag of some sort? There’s golden runes stitched into the fabric, shimmering in the early morning light.

“The real gift is inside of that,” Rayla explains, her face clearly expressing both her worry and excitement. He’s glad she feels comfortable enough to let her feelings show, but she has no reason to worry. Callum will love whatever she gifts him.

He takes the bag thing out of the box, and he can feel something inside, long and thin and... warm. Not even warm, more like hot, like a fireplace wrapped in cloth.

When he pulls out a handle, crafted out of gold and silver, his eyebrows rise.

When he lifts it a bit further and sees an orange glow, the top of a rune drawn on the object, he nearly drops it.

He looks at Rayla, completely dumbfounded, and she starts to laugh, her hand covering her mouth. “Oh my goodness... Rayla... you actually... you got me a sunforge blade?”

She nods, and his incredulous expression must become more prominent, and even Ezran begins to giggle. Soren stares at the sword intently. “How did you...”

“I talked to Jan— _Queen_ Janai. You have no idea how hard hiding this was.”

“How much did you spend on this?”

Rayla shrugs, and Callum reaches to put his hand over hers. “Rayla, you don’t need to waste your money on—“

“Hey, it’s not a waste! It’s a Christmas gift for you, and you better appreciate it.”

“Appreciate it?” Callum chuckles, happiness radiating off of his smile. He’s been working so hard to improve his swordsmanship after the battle, and her gift is beyond thoughtful. “Rayla, I love it! This is so cool!”

She grins back, tension leaving her shoulders. “Good. You’ve been getting better at sword fighting, so I figured you might want something you can actually call your own. Don’t do anything stupid with it. And no, Soren, you can’t ‘borrow’ it.”

Everyone laughs at that, and then it’s Callum’s turn to give Rayla his present.

Getting her gifts was a hassle, not only because he had to talk to people, but because of the people he had to talk to. Plus he had done extensive research on its meaning to Moonshadows and symbols and their meanings. It took some time and fake confidence, but he managed, and the wrapping paper gets ripped off the small box.

When she sees what’s inside, he swears he sees tears brew in her eyes. She covers her mouth in shock before reaching in and pulling out a pendant. It’s carved with a moon and wing inside of it, swirls pattering around the rest. It’s colored a gradient from a darker silver at the bottom and lighter towards the top, like light shining on the symbols.

She looks at Callum, her eyes shimmering, and she her voice is so soft when she says, “Callum...”

“Look, there’s one for me in there too.” He pulls out another pendant, with the same design but mirrored. “They match.”

“How did you...”

He smiles, having been waiting for her to ask that. “I talked to Ethari. We planned it out and designed it, and he helped with symbolism and actually making it. I got to paint them.”

Working out all of the symbolism was difficult, but he’s glad they did. There’s a moon for Rayla and wing for Callum, swirls to represent how they’re tied together. The circle shape represents how their love is neverending, the color shining a light on them, even in dark times. Even the mirroring to represent their opposite sides, human and elf, and idea Callum proposed and Ethari happily agreed to.

Rayla tackles him in a hug, and they fall backwards onto the cold floor, but Callum doesn’t mind. “Thank you. They’re beautiful.”

“Not more beautiful than you,” he murmurs into her hair, tucking her head under his chin.

“Ahem.”

Rayla eases away from him, and Ezran shoots them a raised brow. “This is sweet and all, but there’s more presents to open!”

“Of course,” Callum says, happy smile on his face.

Even though Soren gets him a book on magic, and Ezran surprises him with his sketchbook but with a fixed cover, and Rayla helps strap the sheath (what he thought was a bag) to his belt, the best gift of all will be seeing everyone’s smiles.

Once all the presents are opened and the room is cleared of wrapping paper, everyone begins to clear out. They’re going into town later, so most go to get ready. The chefs retreat to the kitchen to prepare for the feast, council members go to eat breakfast, and Callum and Rayla head back to get ready.

Aunt Amaya and Queen Janai should be arriving some time in the afternoon, hopefully in time to join them for lunch. Callum bounces with anticipation of showing Rayla all his favorite places in town, like the tree with kids’ ordaments and the bakery with special christmas cookies and the ice rink towards the center of town. He traded his usual garb for a christmas sweater, and he leaves his scarf to Rayla, opting to freeze instead. He’ll sacrifice in order for her to look adorable. Plus, the heat from the sunforge blade by his hip is probably enough to keep him warm.

There’s something that’s missing, but he’s not sure what it is.

The pendant rests against his chest, and he holds it in his hand, cool metal against his skin. Ethari did an amazing job with them, and when he sees it around Rayla’s neck, he smiles wider than before.

She has simple blue sweater on, her hair falling around her shoulders like snow. She walks up to him, and he brushes a lock of it behind her ear.

And an idea hits him.

He’s seen Rayla do intricate braids in her hair before. Apparently they symbolize something to Moonshadow elves, different braids meaning different things. She’s done her hair up in a multitude of styles, each one stunning him into silence.

And it gives him an idea now, and he dashes for a hairbrush.

“What are you...”

From his bed, him standing on the mattress, he says, “help me take the lights down.”

“O...kay...”

She helps him, and soon the lights are wrapped into a ball in his hands. He gives her the hairbrush, and she blinks at him. “You have the dumb idea face. Callum, what are you doing?”

He takes a breath in.

“My mother used to have this tradition where every Christmas, she would put something christmas-y in her hair. Usually it was some type of bow or hair clip, but one year, she wove lights into her hair. My step-father continued the tradition after... but now, he’s...”

Rayla looks at him, sympathetic, and he asks, “I know my hair might not be long enough, but could you try to...”

“Of course,” she nods, and she walks behind him, beginning to brush his hair.

They fall into silence, save for the sound of Callum’s hair being brushed and weaves between lights. She wraps them around his head like a crown, braiding pieces over the wire. Somehow, because she’s got magic Moonshadow hair powers, she manages to work in all the lights, and when he looks in the mirror, not a hair is out of place.

He turns around and presses a kiss to her mouth. “Thank you. This is perfect.”

“You’re welcome.” She holds out a hand, and he laces his fingers through hers, a familiar sense of love and excitement flooding through his chest. “Shall we go?”

He grins. “We shall.”

They walk off to go join Ezran and Soren, Callum bouncing on his toes, Rayla watching him with a soft smile. They actually end up running into mistletoe, and with a burst of confidence, he pulls Rayla flush against him, smirks, and kisses her on her lips. Then he walks away, leaving her flabbergasted, but she manages to gather her wits and pull him back to kiss him softly, making them both giggle.

“I love you, Callum.”

“I love you more.”

She shakes her head, a smile on her lips that he leans forward and kisses. “Impossible.”

They may be down a few people, but they live on in their hearts, and he carries their traditions with him. And with Rayla by his side and lights in his hair and a pendant around his neck and sunforge blade by his side, he can safely say this is one of the best Christmases yet.

(Ezran loves the lights and praises Rayla for managing to get them all into his hair. Soren looks at him confused, and they all laugh at his expression. Eventually, he just accepts it.)

**Author's Note:**

> *hi it's nearly two am i'm too tired to write the town you can imagine it
> 
> *im too tired to edit lmao hope it's readable
> 
> *merry christmas!!!


End file.
